First-Year Civic Engagement: Sound Foundations for College ...

CASE STUDY MAAXimum Results:Service-Learning and Engaging the Student-Athlete-CitizenWilliam J. Rogers, Department of English (Now at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus)“[Service-learning] recognizes that democracy is a learned activity,and that active participation in the life of a community is a bridgeto citizenship”— Saltmarsh and Hollander, 2000, p.30MissionThe Madison Academic and Athletic Exchange (MAAX) is acurriculum-based service-learning initiative in civic engagement.Now in its second year, MAAX brings first-year University ofWisconsin students together with local high school student-athletesfor a collaborative inquiry on the relationship between academicand athletic forms of “practice.” The program emphasizesthe collaborative nature of this inquiry and its relevance to thedaily lives of MAAX participants, in order to increase participants’capacity for self-reflection and to enhance students’ senseof themselves as engaged students, athletes, and citizens.OverviewFirst-Year CompositionMAAX features a university course in first-year composition(English 100). Students enrolled in this course read and writeextensively on the role of athletics in American higher education.The course begins with students documenting their ownexperiences with school-sponsored athletics and responding tonewspaper articles on the current state and definition of the “student-athlete.”1 The course then moves toward more systematic,critical reflection on the nature and genealogy of American university-levelathletic programs. Students’ course work culminateswith a final paper in which they research and argue about anydimension of the course’s topic of particular interest and relevanceto them. Past paper topics have included the academic advisingprocess for student-athletes, the impact of Title IX on men’s andwomen’s sports, and the benefits of “universal and intramural” vs.“selective and intercollegiate” athletic programs. All students enrolledin this course also agree to engage in a collaborative learningpartnership with Madison East High School student-athletes,to further research, discuss, and apply their coursework. 3Service-Learning and Civic Engagement 4MAAX’s community engagement arose in response to a community-definedneed. The principal of Madison East High Schoolobserved that while it was not uncommon for high school athletesto disengage from their classes and their academic communities,many of these students tended to maintain a high level ofdedication to and respect for their athletic endeavors. Therefore,MAAX directly engages high school students who are academicallydisengaged by asking them to consider how the qualitiesone commonly associates with athletic virtuosity (e.g., rigor, selfreflection,and collaboration) might prove to be valuable assets intheir capacities as students and citizens.MAAX partnership meetings take place at Madison East HighSchool every three to four weeks. These meetings last about anhour, and occur during and in lieu of regularly scheduled classtimes. During the meetings, students work together in smallergroups, or “MAAXTeams,” comprised of two to three universitystudents and four to six high school students per team. Theseteams are consistent throughout the semester, and “MAAX-Team” work takes two forms. First, each session begins withopen-ended, collaborative dialogues and inquiries during whichteams are asked to focus on a specific concept or term, such as themeaning of “respect” in sports and in school, or on the differentattitudes and responsibilities student-athletes express in relationto their coaches and teachers. Teams conclude their discussionsby preparing a list of relevant “action items” that team membersagree to work on applying in the days and weeks ahead. Second,teams work throughout the year on a final group project that offersan innovative and concrete means of re-incorporating theirteamwork into their everyday practice. Past and current projectsinclude: a “skills and drills”-based approach to academic improvement;an informative pamphlet on the life and expectations of astudent athlete at Madison East (written for distribution to firstyearstudent-athletes); and a series of inspirational sayings, drawnfrom popular representations of sport and re-worked for an academicor civic context.Student Profile and OutcomesAll UW students enrolled in MAAX are first-year students,defined as freshmen or undergraduate transfers in their first semesterof full-time study at UW-Madison. Approximately half ofthese students are student-athletes, defined as current members ofa university-sponsored, intercollegiate athletic team. By actively